NOTE: Using robot software to mass-download the site degrades the server and is prohibited. See here for more.
Find The PC Guide helpful? Please consider a donation to The PC
Guide Tip Jar. Visa/MC/Paypal accepted.

The people who write viruses generally have their own reasons for what they do, and
they aren't too open about identifying themselves, for obvious reasons. It is believed
that most virus authors are young men in their teens or early twenties, who have a great
deal of technical knowledge and have decided for various reasons to use it for destructive
purposes. Some of the reasons that people write viruses:

Sociopathy: Many virus writers are just troublemakers--or maybe just troubled
individuals--who want to create havoc and then thrive on the attention it generates. They
are the electronic equivalents of graffiti artists, prank phone callers, etc., looking for
fame and glory in a rather twisted way.

Revenge: Sometimes viruses or trojan horses are written by disgruntled employees
or others who want to get back at someone or make a statement.

The Challenge: Some virus writers do it just to see if they can away with it. As
virus detection software gets smarter, virus writers have to employ new tricks to have
their "products" evade notice.

Education: Writing viruses, especially ones smart enough to avoid detection,
requires a great deal of technical know-how. Some people take up virus writing to teach
themselves how to program at a low-level within the PC. It's ironic, but experienced virus
writers are among the most technically skilled PC programmers in the world! What a waste,
isn't it?

In many cases, full-fledged war can break out between famous virus writers and the
companies that write antivirus software. Given the twisted genius of many virus authors,
it isn't surprising that many new viruses specifically target antivirus software programs!
Then the antivirus programs modify themselves to protect against these new attacks, and so
on, and so on. In essence, it's a digital war zone out there, and your hard disk is the
battleground. There are thousands of viruses floating around and you ignore the risk at
your peril. Fortunately there are ways of coping with this madness, primarily by
preventing virus infection, and performing routine scans for any that evade your defenses.